


From Rags to Comfortable Living Arrangements

by dragonyfox



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, I tried to stay as in character as i could, and b) theyre kids and kids are hard to write, behind the scenes child abuse because thenardiers, but thats hard bc a) thats hard anyway, sibs au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-23
Updated: 2016-04-22
Packaged: 2018-06-03 22:13:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6628702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonyfox/pseuds/dragonyfox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is how they came to be the Fauchlevant siblings. </p><p>“Collette! Ange! Monty! Come out here and meet this nice man!”</p><p>“My name isn’t Ange,” Enjolras told the man, standing as straight as he could. “It’s Enjolras. And this is Montparnasse and this is Cosette.”</p><p>“It’s nice to meet you, Enjolras, Montparnasse, and Cosette,” the man said, and shook their hands one by one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	From Rags to Comfortable Living Arrangements

Montparnasse and Enjolras always protected Cosette. She was younger than them by a year or so, and while it had only been after her birth that their mother had to send them away to be cared for by the Thenardiers, they didn’t really blame her.

The one time Enjolras and Montparnasse had argued about it, Enjolras had said she can’t help when she was born, and Montparnasse had agreed.

The Thenardiers weren’t kind to the three of them either. They weren’t sure why, but they knew that Eponine and Azelma never had to do chores, and Enjolras and Montparnasse were expected to clean and cook. Cosette was young, and Enjolras insisted that she was too young to be cleaning with harsh chemicals, so he and Montparnasse took over most of her chores.

During what little free time the twins could give her, Cosette played in the front yard with a doll Montparnasse had sewn for her from scraps of old towels and ratty blankets.

A man showed up one day during her play time.

“Miss, are the owners of this house the Thenardiers?” he asked her.

Cosette stared at him, wide-eyed. “Yes, sir.”

He smiled at her. “Would you be so kind as to fetch them for me? I need to speak with them.”

“Yes, sir,” she said again, and darted inside.

Cosette went to the kitchen first, and told Enjolras about the man on the porch. He was instantly wary- he’d heard enough about stranger danger from the TV- but told her to fetch Madame Thenardier anyway. On her way upstairs, she passed Montparnasse, and told him the same thing. He immediately dropped what he was doing, and went downstairs to join Enjolras at the kitchen window.

“Ma’am, there’s a man on the porch,” Cosette said, staying out of arms reach of Madame Thenardier. “He says he wants to talk to you and Mr. Thenardier.”

The woman scowled and dragged her husband downstairs.

Cosette trailed after them, and joined her brothers at the kitchen window.

“I’ve been sent by Fantine to take care of her children,” the mysterious man told Madame Thenardier.

“She gave them to our care!” Madame Thenardier replied, crossing her arms over her chest. “And anyway, how do I know you ain’t a child molester or something?”

“I have a document signed by her and two witnesses. There’s a copy with a friend of mine, who is a police detective. If you wish to speak with him, I can-”

“No!” Mr. Thenardier yelped, then coughed. “No, it’s fine, I can see that our worries are misplaced. I’m afraid we can’t just give the children up, though.”

The mysterious man said nothing.

“Yes, exactly,” Madame Thenardier agreed. “The children, they’re very sickly. We’ve put so much care into them that taking them away would break our hearts, and also lots of money into them. We’ll need some sort of compensation for taking care of them for so long.”

Enjolras scowled. “We haven’t been sick a day of our lives!”

The mysterious man looked at him in the window. The three of them ducked- they weren’t supposed to be eavesdropping on adult conversations.

“Well,” Madame Thenardier said with a high pitched laugh, “maybe not the boys. But Cosette, the poor dear, she’s always got a cold or the flu, and it’s just terrible, the poor girl.”

“I’m taking them home with me immediately and you’ll accept this,” he said, and held up a wad of bills, “or I’m inviting Inspector Javert here to speak with you about compensation.”

Mr. Thenardier snatched the money from his hands. “Collette! Ange! Monty! Come out here and meet this nice man!”

The three of them scrambled out of the kitchen and onto the porch.

“My name isn’t Ange,” Enjolras told the man, standing as straight as he could. “It’s Enjolras. And this is Montparnasse and this is Cosette.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Enjolras, Montparnasse, and Cosette,” the man said, and shook their hands one by one. “My name is Jean Valjean. Your birth mother sent me. I’m going to take care of you from now on.”

“Are you going to be our papa?” Cosette asked, clutching her ragdoll to her chest.

Mr. Valjean smiled. “If you like, yes, I will be your papa.”

Cosette beamed, and took his hand. Enjolras and Montparnasse decided that they’d give this guy a chance.  

.

Valjean did not immediately take them to his house. Instead, he drove through the city and finally parked in a large lot.

“Where are we?” Montparnasse asked, peering out the window suspiciously.

“Target,” Valjean replied. “Your birth mother passed away just a few days ago, and I came here immediately to pick you up. My friend Javert is setting up bedrooms for you at my home, but I rather thought you should be allowed to choose your own clothes and toys.”

Enjolras squinted at him. “Your friend, or your boyfriend?”

Valjean coughed. “Well, he doesn’t like that term. He’s my closest friend and my partner. We’re actually married.”

Enjolras touched Montparnasse’s arm softly, and tilted his head.

Montparnasse jerked his head toward Valjean and nodded.

Cossette beamed.

Valjean stared at them for a minute, amused, then said, “Alright, you lot, I’d like to get home before it gets too dark, so we might want to go ahead inside and start shopping."

Enjolras and Montparnasse tumbled out of the car. Cosette held Valjean's hand during the entire trip, while Enjolras walked next to her, and Montparnasse walked next to him. Montparnasse always walked on the outside because he'd nicked a knife from Mr. Thenardier ages ago and managed to keep it hidden.

Montparnasse ended up palming the knife to Enjolras after a few minutes of looking around in the clothing department, though.

"Pick out whatever you like," Valjean told him.

"Parnasse," Enjolras said, pleading.

Montparnasse saluted his brother and vanished into the racks of clothing, and didn't reappear for twenty minutes, although when he did he was carrying far more clothes than necessary.

Valjean said nothing when Montparnasse dumped the pile of black, red, and white clothes into the cart.

"We're done," Enjolras told Valjean.

Valjean looked down at him. "You don't want to pick out anything for yourself?"

Enjolras shook his head. "Parnasse knows what I like."

Cosette was far more involved in picking out her clothes, though Montparnasse did veto some of her choices. He also picked out another thing for himself there, a girl's sparkly jacket, and glared at Valjean, daring him to say anything.

"That’s a nice jacket," Valjean said. "You look nice in sparkles."

Montparnasse grinned despite himself.

All three of them were immediately drawn to the toy aisle, though they didn't move from Valjean's side until he shooed them away and told them to pick a few things that they liked. Cosette only chose a large doll, though she had to get Montparnasse to get it off of the shelf for her. She wanted nothing else and retreated to Valjean's side as soon as it was in her arms. Montparnasse picked out a stack of coloring books and the good crayons, along with a blank sketchbook and a package of pencils.

Enjolras hesitated over a video game system.

"So far he's been fine," Montparnasse said, leaning against the display next to him and keeping an eye on Cosette. "He didn't say shit about all of the clothes I picked out."

"But it's really expensive."

Montparnasse shrugged. "Look, you claim the coloring books, I'll claim the DS. If he gets pissed off, I'll shank him, no problem."

"I have the knife, stupid!" Enjolras hissed.

"Okay, so you'll shank him. No problem."

Enjolras sighed and took the stack of coloring books from Montparnasse, following just a step behind him as he approached Valjean.

Montparnasse walked directly up to Valjean, and asked, "Can I get a DS?"

"Sure," Valjean replied easily. "Let’s find an employee to get it out of the case for us."

When he walked away to wave down said employee, Montparnasse gave Enjolras a smug look. Enjolras rolled his eyes and unceremoniously dumped the coloring books into the cart, on top of the clothes.

Checkout took a while, and Enjolras felt kind of bad for the poor worker who had to scan everything. Had they gotten too much?

“I just adopted them,” Valjean explained to the worker, after she gave him a curious and suspicious look. “Their mother passed recently, and asked that I take them in. their previous caretakers weren’t the best.”

Her expression softened. “Well, it seems like you’re gonna be a cool dad, if your purchase today is anything to go on. Just don’t spoil them too much!” 

Valjean laughed. “Don’t worry, miss, my partner will keep me in check. He always has.”

That was a little ominous, the twins agreed, looking at each other. Montparnasse adjusted Enjolras’ jacket for him, subtly patting the knife as a reminder. If anyone tried anything, they’d get stabbed.

Eventually, it was over and they were bundled back into the car. Cosette curled up between the twins with her doll, and Montparnasse was setting up the DS so he and Enjolras could pass it back and forth.

“You know, Enjolras,” Valjean said once he was driving, “If you were the one who wanted the DS, you didn’t have to send your brother to ask for it.”

“We weren’t sure if we could trust you,” Montparnasse replied breezily.

Enjolras thumped him on the leg. “Shut up, Parnasse!”

“Hey! I told you he seemed okay! When have I ever been wrong?”

The rest of the car ride passed quietly, if slowly. Apparently, Valjean had drove really far to fetch them, and while that made Montparnasse a little wary, Cosette insisted that it meant that he really wanted to take care of them.

.

Valjean herded them out of the car gently, and carried almost all of their things to the door. The twins carried the last three bags between them, and had tucked the DS away into Cosette’s pocket.

“Can someone open the door?” he asked. “It should be unlocked.”

Enjolras hesitated, but stepped up and turned the knob, following the door as it swung inward.

“Honey, I’m home,” Valjean called.

A masculine voice replied from another room, “I’m in the kitchen, since I’m sure you didn’t feed those poor kids yet! It should be done in a few minutes, please set the table!”

“Shit, I knew I forgot something,” Valjean muttered. “Here, put those bags on the couch for now. Javert can show you the rooms he set up for you after dinner, don’t worry.”

Valjean disappeared into the next room, presumably to set the table as he was told.

“I’m going to explore for a second,” Montparnasse said, and then wandered down the hall, peeking into each room as he went. Enjolras shook his head and prepared an excuse for his twin.

Luckily, Montparnasse reappeared before Valjean did.

“The place is kinda little,” he reported. “There’s three bedrooms and a really little office. Cosette has her own room, but we share a room. No bunkbed, though, which sucks, but oh well. There’s all kinds of books everywhere, and our beds are already made. Cosette’s bed is really, really pink, and ours are both black.”

Enjolras had never understood his twin’s thing for colors. “At least it’s not blue?”

“Exactly,” Montparnasse said with a nod.

“Come on in, kids,” Valjean called from the next room over. “Dinner’s ready!”

The three of them obeyed, and were quickly sat down at the table. Montparnasse and Enjolras maneuvered to have Cosette sitting between them, as usual. Food was piled in the center of the table, though all of the plates were empty.

“Hello,” the new man said. “My name is Javert Valjean. I’m married to Jean. I expect my rules to be followed. There’s a list posted on the bathroom door. If you need assistance reading, either of us will be happy to help you.”

Enjolras immediately liked Javert. He said what he wanted, and you didn’t have to guess. Montparnasse didn’t like that as much, because now he had less wiggle room, but he wouldn’t argue, for Cosette and Enjolras’ sakes.

“We’re both very happy to have you in our home, even with the circumstances,” Javert continued. “Now, we’re going to say grace. If you wish to refrain, you may, as long as you’re quiet and respectful.”

While the adults and Cosette were bowing their head and praying, Enjolras and Montparnasse exchanged another one of their silent conversations.

Enjolras smiled hesitantly.

Montparnasse shrugged, but nodded his head.

Enjolras looked pointedly at Cosette.

Montparnasse brushed his hand against his pocket, and glanced at Enjolras’ pocket, where their pocket knife was.

Enjolras nodded grudgingly.

“Alright,” Valjean said, and started piling each of their plates with food. “Eat as much as you’re comfortable with. Worst case, we wrap up your plate and put it in the fridge. Dig in!”

This could work, the twins decided, and started eating. They’d be careful, but they also wanted this to work, at least for Cosette, so they were going to try to make this work.


End file.
